Paraguayan War in the context of "Rio Grande do Sul"

Paraguay (Guarani: Paraguái), officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country located in the central region of South America. It borders Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. Paraguay has access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Paraná–Paraguay Waterway. The country is governed as a unitary presidential republic composed of a capital district and seventeen departments. Its capital and largest city is Asunción.

The indigenous Guaraní had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores in 1524. The city of Asunción was founded in 1537 as the first capital of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata within the Spanish Empire. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the natives were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony. Following independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Paraguay was ruled by a series of authoritarian governments. This period ended with the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870), during which the country lost half its prewar population and around 25–33% of its territory. In the 20th century, Paraguay faced another major international conflict—the Chaco War (1932–1935) against Bolivia—in which Paraguay prevailed. It subsequently came under a succession of military dictators, culminating in the 35-year regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which lasted until his overthrow in 1989 by an internal military coup. This marked the beginning of Paraguay's current democratic era.

The Independence of Paraguay de facto started on 14 May 1811 after the Revolution of May 14 when a local ruling junta was created. In early 1811 Paraguayan forces had repeatedly defeated the Argentine army which considered Paraguay to be a break-away province. On 12 October 1813 the Paraguayan Republic was proclaimed. Officially, independence was proclaimed only on 25 November 1842. Paraguayan independence was assured only after the Paraguayan War, when the Empire of Brazil resisted Argentine offers to divide and annex the country.

The Brazilian Army (Portuguese: Exército Brasileiro; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordinating itself, in the Federal Government's structure, to the Ministry of Defense, alongside the Brazilian Navy and Air Force. The Military Police (Polícias Militares; PMs) and Military Firefighters Corps (Corpos de Bombeiros Militares; CBMs) are legally designated as reserve and auxiliary forces to the army. Its operational arm is called Land Force. It is the largest army in South America and the largest branch of the Armed Forces of Brazil.

Emerging from the defense forces of the Portuguese Empire in Colonial Brazil as the Imperial Brazilian Army, its two main conventional warfare experiences were the Paraguayan War and the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and its traditional rival in planning, until the 1990s, was Argentina, but the army also has many peacekeeping operations abroad and internal operations in Brazil. The Brazilian Army was directly responsible for the Proclamation of the Republic and gradually increased its capacity for political action, culminating in the military dictatorship of 1964–1985. Throughout Brazilian history, it safeguarded central authority against separatism and regionalism, intervened where unresolved social issues became violent and filled gaps left by other State institutions.

The National Military College (Spanish: Colegio Militar de la Nación) is the institution in charge of the undergraduate education of officers of the Argentine Army. It is located at El Palomar, Buenos Aires.

Established on October 11, 1869, by President Domingo Sarmiento at the height of the Paraguayan War, its original quarters were opened in where the Parque Tres de Febrero stands today, with Col. Juan F. Czetz as the first superintendent. It was transferred to San Martín in 1892, and to its present location, the site of the 1852 Battle of Caseros that deposed mid-19th century strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas, in 1938.

ARA Guerrico (P-32) was a Drummond-class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She was the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martín Guerrico who fought in the 19th century Paraguayan War.

She was based at Mar del Plata and conducts fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone where she has captured several trawlers. According to reports in November 2012 the Drummond class "hardly sail[ed] because of lack of resources for operational expenses". As of 2020, she was reported in reserve and she was finally retired from service in 2024.

The Brazilian Navy (Portuguese: Marinha do Brasil) is the naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces. It is responsible for conducting naval operations, providing maritime security, and enforcing laws and regulations both at sea and within the country's extensive riverine and littoral zones. The Brazilian Navy is one of the world's few blue-water naval forces, capable of regional power projection beyond the country's territorial water and deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

The navy was involved in the Brazilian war of independence and subsequently received most of Portugal's naval forces and bases in South America. The government maintained a sizeable naval force in the initial decades following independence. The navy was later involved in the Cisplatine War, the River Plate conflicts, the Paraguayan War as well as other sporadic rebellions that marked Brazilian history.